Since opening in mid-November 2011, the hospital's goal is naturally to provide a great health care experience but the hospital also prides itself on providing a great human experience as well. In keeping with that ethos, St. Luke's sought to do something extraordinary with its façade and chose to decorate it in an energy-efficient wash of dynamic coloured light from Martin Professional.
"Our goal was to celebrate the opening of our new hospital in a creative and significant way and chose to explore architectural lighting options that would create a dramatic, lasting effect," says Sue Ross, director of marketing & public relations, St. Luke's Hospital & Health Network. "After conducting considerable research, we contacted several firms, including Eslinger Lighting, to discuss the scope of the project and ensure they could deliver the desired result.
"Eslinger Lighting was most responsive to our needs, actually coming on site to set up a demonstration before a final decision was made. We were impressed with the high quality of the lighting products and the level of customer service we received."
To fulfill the energy efficient and colour control requirement, Eslinger, a Pennsylvania-based, full service entertainment and installation lighting company, chose the Exterior 400, an LED colour-changing wash light from Martin Professional with tight beam spread and impressive power.
The Exterior 400 fixtures are mounted on concrete pads strategically placed around the hospital and wash bright shades of colour onto columns without shining light into patient rooms. For the hospital's grand opening, the fixtures alternated red, white and blue projection around the building in a salute to Veterans Day.
Spire Lighting Design LLC, based in Gettysburg, provided design support as well as the control system and programming for the project, which includes a custom web-based client interface for choosing lighting looks. Eslinger explains, "We worked with the hospital during the installation to fit their time constraints for opening as well as training them on the web-accessible interface which allows them to easily control the fixtures without understanding complex lighting consoles."
(Jim Evans)
